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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
Page A-12 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 Weather Watch Cave Junction Thursday, Oct. 22 Partly Cloudy High --60 Low -- 36 Friday, Oct 23 Partly Cloudy High -- 64 Low -- 44 Saturday, Oct. 24 AM Showers High -- 56 Low -- 32 Sunday, Oct. 25 Sunny High -- 57 Low -- 30 Monday, Oct. 26 Sunny High -- 63 Low -- 36 Tuesday, Oct. 27 Mostly Sunny High -- 67 Low -- 41 Wednesday, Oct. 28 Mostly Sunny High -- 68 Low -- 43 Following are the high & low temperatures, and rainfall recorded at The End of the Road in O’Brien by Cheryl Johnson: Oct 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 High 60.7 68.8 71.2 72.3 69.7 70.9 78.3 Low 47.4 37.1 52.8 47.4 51.9 47.4 44.7 Rain 0.73 0.01 0.02 0.06 Oct. Rain: 0.82” YTD Rain: 0.82” Page A-12 Crawlies with Cri: by Christy Solo This week’s crawly is always ready for Halloween and could easily go to a party as any Sith Lord straight out of Star Wars. Meet the red- shouldered ctenucha tiger moth (Ctenucha rubroscapus) – we’ll call them “red” for brevity. Red is here to disprove that adage “Butterflies are pretty, moths are boring.” Red is a day-flying moth and while they are not poisonous their bold color is meant to trick would-be predators into thinking they are dangerous to eat. While moths with muted colors go for the camouflage “you can’t see me” survival tactic, tiger moths opt for the “come at me bro!” faux warning colors. Even at rest with their black wings resting in a “V” formation, those crimson shoulder stripes keep them from blending in. At just over one- quarter of an inch long, reds are good-sized moths too. The adults fly in July and August and can be found all over Oregon west of the Cascades. They can only be found at lower elevations (below snowline) and generally are found in grassy fields. Red has a couple similar-looking cousins. The white fringe on the outer, bottom edge of red’s wings are the tell for this species. Adult reds are nectar drinkers. Their caterpillars munch on wild grasses like wild rye (Elymus) and orchard grass (Dactylis) and sedges (grasslike herbaceous plants). Because the caterpillars don’t eat flowering plants, adult reds aren’t flower specialists and you may find them fluttering around a variety of flowers. They do prefer composite flowers, like dandelion, chrysanthemum, yarrow, sunflower, thistle and zinnia. Not only are reds beautiful and dramatic- looking moths, but they’ll pollinate many of the perennials in your yard. Their caterpillars (Photo by Christy Solo, Illinois Valley News) Confusing petrophila moth (Petrophila confusalis) are black and white and “fuzzy.” Like the adults they look like they might be poisonous. If you want to attract reds to your yard, be sure to leave some grasses and sedges unmown. Just some left in a clay pot for fire safety might just be enough. A close cousin of red, the yellow- collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), can be found throughout Oregon. Its coloring is classic Halloween, with brownish black wings and an orange head. It lacks the fancy shoulder stripes of red. The collared tends to be in meadow and riparian areas. They’ll be on the wing until the first hard frost of fall, so if you’re lucky you may still see one.
